The present invention relates generally to the field of child resistant closures, and more particularly, is directed to a reusable child resistant closure and container combination.
The closure industry has been directed by governmental agencies and others to provide for adequate safety of children by designing and manufacturing closures of a type that will discourage access to container contents which may prove harmful to children. Recent government regulations promulgated for the safety of children and other consumers have increased industry efforts to design childproof closures which are simple in operation, inexpensive in production and which can be easily affixed during assembly line processing of filled containers in a variety of industries. Such industries include, among others, the pharmaceutical, petroleum, cosmetic, household, industrial cleaner, automotive and paint industries.
Numerous container closures with child resistant features have been developed and which have been designed particularly to meet or surpass the applicable Federal Regulations. Considerable time, effort and costs have been expended in the packaging and closure industries and great strides have been made with numerous acceptable designs being developed and manufactured. These prior art closures have been tested and approved in accordance with established criteria and literally millions of such closures have been manufactured and used to date. Most of the existing, approved, child resistant closures suffer from a common drawback, that is, they are all relatively more costly in manufacture and use than the already existing closures which are not particularly designed as child resistant. In the case of certain medicines and industrial products wherein repeated use is contemplated, the need exists for a simple, inexpensive, child resistant closure which does not increase packaging costs.
This invention overcomes the foregoing and other shortcomings and drawbacks of child resistant closures and containers heretofore known. While the invention will be described in connection with certain embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to these embodiments. On the contrary, the invention includes all alternatives, modifications and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the claimed invention.
In one embodiment, the invention includes a cap or closure adapted to fit over an open top of a nestable jar or container. The cap has a generally planar top wall and outer rim surrounding the top wall. The outer rim includes an inner ridge extending upwardly from the top wall of the cap, a ledge, and an outer skirt depending downwardly from a peripheral edge of the ledge. The peripheral outside surface of the top wall of the cap near the juncture with the ridge is a continuous snap bead extending around the perimeter of the top wall.
The container has a bottom, a cylindrical sidewall extending upwardly from the bottom and an open mouth defined by an upper edge of the sidewall. The cylindrical sidewall has an inner surface which is smooth except for an inwardly directed continuous lip near the upper edge thereof. This continuous lip surrounds the inner surface of the container""s sidewall and engages the continuous snap bead on the outside of the top wall of the closure when the closure is snapped over the mouth of the jar.
In addition, the container has an annular flange projecting outwardly from the outer surface of the cylindrical sidewall of the container proximate the mouth of the container beneath the upper edge. This annular flange has a flexible tab created by two spaced slits in the annular flange extending radially outwardly from the cylindrical sidewall of the container.
In operation, to remove the cap covering the open mouth of the container, the flexible tab is pushed upwardly against the skirt of the cap, causing the cap to snap off of the container. The flexible tab provides leverage to aid removal of the cap. In addition, this design reduces the possibility that a child may use his or her teeth or fingernail to pry the skirt upwardly and open the cap. To snap the cap over the open mouth of the container and thereby secure the closure to the container, the continuous snap bead on the outer surface of the inner wall of the cap is snapped over the continuous lip on the inner surface of the cylindrical sidewall of the container. With the cap snapped in place over the mouth of the container, the continuous annular bead of the cap is located underneath the continuous bead on the container sidewall and provides a seal on the inside surface of the container sidewall.